From the LeBron James-Larry King Transcript

02 Jun 2010

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Larry King conducted an interview with LeBron James, which will air on CNN at 6p on Friday. The transcript was published on Cleveland.com:

KING: … How about the Clippers, which would put you in the same city as Kobe, in the same arena as Kobe, with a team with some nice young players?

JAMES: With some really good players. And I think everyone in Clipperland is looking forward to Blade Griffin coming back…

KING: Right.

JAMES: — and being healthy. I mean, Chris Kaman, they’ve got some really good players, Baron Davis. Some really nice, solid pieces that, you know, if they add a free agent here or a free agent there, it could be a really good team.

KING: And if one of these free agents was you and one was Bosh, would L.A. appeal to you?

JAMES: It’s a great city. It’s a great city. But at the same time, like I said, it’s not always about the city. It’s about winning. And I mean if you put me and Bosh on the same team, if you put me and Dwayne Wade on the same team or a lot of these — me and Joe Johnson or — or a lot of these guys, a lot of teams would be much better. You know, the Cavs would be much better…

kenji

after looking at the top-50 free agent list on fan house, i think we could construct a really solid 2nd unit at doable prices.

travis outlaw (bird rights)
dorell wright (leuzinger h.s.; solid defender and 3pt shooter)
amir johnson (westchester h.s.; strong defender/rebounder/shot blocker; knows his role)
channing frye (will have a l.a. friend in luke walton; spread the floor for blake/kaman)
nate robinson (spark off the bench)
ian mahinmi (who? little known former dleaguer w/the spurs)
- Curtis
  
  Call me a pessimist, but it didn’t seem like Clippers were a destination James was too enthralled about – at the same time he’s been giving everyone the reach around about.
  
  @ Kenji
  I agree, I think looking to bolster a deep team is the ideal solution and I like a lot of those guys you picked out. At the same time, I really like Butler over Outlaw just because he can play both the SG and SF position. Although, I know he’s a bit more expensive.
  
  At the same time, I’m not exactly sure, but I think bird rights become irrelevant when teams sign FAs not on their current roster.
  - kenji
    
    clippers own travis outlaw’s bird rights, which i believe means they can be over the salary cap and sign him without luxury tax penalties. so cap wise we’d benefit more with signing outlaw rather than butler. if we go for a guy like dorell wright, who can play the sg/sf spots, we dont need rasual. i’m sure dorell would come cheaper too. Plus he’s younger, higher energy, and still a defensive guy with long range shooting.
    - Bongstradamus
      
      We own the bird rights, but in order to make an offer on LeBron we waive the bird rights of all the players we acquired.
      
      LeBron + 6 D-Leaguers on minimum salaries does not equal winning.
      - kenji
        
        lebron ain’t coming here. so lets everybody just move on and focus on whats feasible and not some pipe-dream of a guy that’s toying with everyone.
ClipperBB

No way. “The King” himself actually has some positive things to say about us. Well, it’s nice to know that he didn’t bash us like what the media tend to do when they talk about the Clippers.
chaderack

Forget it, this guy is not going to sign with the Clips. I think he will resign with Cleavland. What we need is a solid coach and some saavy FA signings. We forget that Blake Griffin is the real deal, we can build around him and compete every single game.
jclipper

From this interview, we can conclude that he doesn’t want to come to the clips. I personally think he’s going to stay.
Bryant

I think he’s toying with us all. My opinion, I don’t think he will sign with Cleveland. Call me weird, but I really do think he’ll sign with another team. Just the fact that he mentioned the clippers in a somewhat positive light, that’s a glimmer of hope…i now revise my percentage chance that we’ll get LBJ from 5% to 6%.
keno

The bottom line is, he knows how good the clippers would be if he signed. I agree that i think he wants to stay in Cleveland, but he will not win there. He mentioned that playing along side some of the other free agents would make the cavs or whatever team better, sure, ok. But the Cavs have very little to offer in terms of a sign and trade, so you can essentially forget another big timer coming to cleveland. If i’m toronto/atl/utah/phx, i’d rather have cap space then JJ Hickson and Anthony Parker and 2 picks late in the first round on the books.

Just adding james to the Clippers makes them a title favorite for the next decade. He wants to play with bosh? How about a bosh/stoudamire combo in Griffin? He knows how good these guys can be with him, he needs to realize if he wants to win multiple titles, he will need to leave his home state. The only way he wins in cleveland is if he takes the Vet minimum allowing other FA’s to sign. However, he has already gone on record back in November saying he’s a max player.

His team of advisors can look at all the other situations. None of them compare to what it could be here. Also, if he thinks he needs another ‘superstar’ like the aforementioned, he’s not as good as i thought he was. Plus, a pair of stars isn’t a sure fire way to win. There are strengths in numbers. Lebron and Wade or Bosh or Stoudamire or Etc isn’t a guarantee for a championship. Plus, to me, it would taint is legacy as a Superstar, meaning, he needed another major piece to get it done. The Clipps have so many ‘unknowns’ (griffin, gordon, jordan) that it would still clearly be ‘lebron’s team/title’ if they won it all.

Whether he wants to accept it now or later, he might need the clippers as much as they need him. All the pessimists can laugh all they want, at the end of the day the facts still stand that the already built in supporting cast is the best the in the league for him.
- chris.
  
  Pretty much every “superstar” that won a championship had another star with them. Magic & Kareem, Bird & McHale, Jordan & Pippen, Kobe & Shaq, Shaq & Wade, Kobe & Gasol. It didn’t taint anybody’s legacy as a “superstar.” It’s not a sure fire way to win but it is a proven way to win. Unfortunately the Clippers aren’t a team able to offer 2 max contracts but we do have pieces we could move around.. Kaman if Toronto want’s to S&T Bosh for an all-star center so they at least get something out of this. Personally I think he’s staying and we’d be better off focusing on something we could get which is harder to figure out without overpaying for Joe Johnson or Rudy Gay who would take max contracts to get either (and JJ is more of a shooting guard anyways).
http://www.firedunleavy.com FD

He’s going to talk it over with Wade and they’ll both go somewhere. I don’t think you can tell much from that interview. He’s always going to lean towrards Cleveland for the press because he doesn’t want to piss off the fans. He’s going to make the I really wanted to stay in Cleveland, but something better came along excuse.
- bestclipfan
  
  He is not going to share a team with Wade, these superstars all have tremendous egos and will not share a team or championship with anyone. Maybe Wade would because he already has a ring but Lebron wants his championship to be his not his and Wade’s.
Bongstradamus

“It’s a great city. It’s a great city. But at the same time, like I said, it’s not always about the city. It’s about winning.”

That basically tells us we are not an option for LeBron.
- Gordon for President
  
  But the Knicks are? The are way worse off than we are, all they have to sell LeBron on is the the city.
  - Richard W.
    
    Agreed.. Let’s look at this logically..
    
    The Bulls have had bad management since the the Jordan years ended..
    
    The Knicks Are just TRASH all the way around..
    
    The Nets won 11 Games and don’t exactly have the best history of any team in the league..
    
    WE offer him his best chance to make the type of impact that i’m sure he’s trying to make on the game.. We have the pieces in place to be a Title contender for 7 Years if he comes here..
    - Curtis
      
      Logically speaking, James coming to LA is the best spot to make lots of money and win titles, but I really don’t think he’s looking – or anyone for that matter – will ever look at us as title contenders until we start making it to the playoffs regularly. It’s a shame too because this team has so much going for it, a great core, new coach, fresh GM, etc.
      
      Hopefully in a year or two we can look back at this moment and say, “Hey James! We told you so.”
keno

@bongstradamus

How? because he said he wouldn’t make a decision just because it’s a great city? to me, that statement basically eliminates NY from the conversation. the one thing they had to offer was maybe the best city in the league. They won’t win next year with lebron AND your free agent choice.

He said it’s about winning. He knows how good this team could be. He saw baron drop 25 in a quarter this year in cleveland, he knows how good griffin will be, he hung with Kaman at the all star game, and he’s been good friends with gordon since EJ was in high-school.

Lebron wants to stay in cleveland. Lebron wants to win. Those to desires of his are, and will be mutually exclusive. He can’t have both, he’ll have to choose. He wants another big gun in a cavs uniform, but they don’t have the assets (cap space, decent #1 picks, young talent, etc) to acquire anyone. maybe they find a sucker to take on the crap players that would add up to another max FA, i doubt it.

I’m not saying he’s coming to the clipps, but i’m positive it’s his best choice, by a mile.
- Bongstradamus
  
  He said in his own words, “its not about the city its about winning”.
  
  Unless im clearly mistaken, we have no coach, have never won a division title, which means never a conference title or a championship. We currently have no head coach, in order to sign Lebron wed have to waive bird rights to every player we acquired at deadline which would leave us with 6 roster spots to fill with minimum deals.
  
  Let me go back to the clincher: We have NEVER WON A DIVISION TITLE. Ever. Period.
  
  Its about the winning to LeBron, not the city. Theres one thing we cannot offer LeBron and thats a chance to compete for the title. We have no history of competing at that level. We cant sell him on our ability to field and maintain winning teams. We have absolutely no experience in that area.
- Bongstradamus
  
  And the Cavs, well, theyve actually got a history of winning or at least competing for the championship. They added major peices and overspent to surround him with talent. So between us and the Cavs? We’re not even being considered. Sure, we have wonderful peices and a great place to live, but theres nothing here that says “winning” to LeBron.
keno

i think you need to understand what ‘tense’ means.

winning (as in the now). he didn’t say, i need to go to a team that has won championships. by your interpretation, he can go to boston or the lakers, since he wants past history, not future history

If you call a 38 year old Shaq, and 34 year old Antwan Jamison, and Mo Williams “major” pieces, then you need to take another hit…..that team wouldn’t win 20 games without lebron.

“a history of winning”? Before 2004, the cavs have had only 6 seaons with 47+ wins. Yes, more then the clippers, but not “a history of winning”.
- Gordon for President
  
  Exactly. The only currently winning situation LeBron can pick is CLE, but it looks more and more like he’s out of there. Past titles and championships are irrelevant. What do past accomplishments for LeBron winning now?
  - Gordon for President
    
    past accomplishments mean*
- Richard W.
  
  Agreed Great Points!! We’re not the only Team in the Leaugue wit suspect history.. Lol..
Blake Griffin

It’s not always about the city, it’s about winning …..if that’s the case, then you should team up with blake griffin , baron davis ,and chris kaman, then you will have a greater chance of winning then going back to cleveland or teaming with bosh …blake grifin over bosh or wade or joe johnson, or any day of the year…..
- Curtis
  
  It’s a shame too because our core is so over looked. It’s like, “Yeah, you can share the spotlight with Chris Bosh or D. Wade, or you can lead Blake Griffin, Chris Kaman, and Baron Davis to the Clippers’ first ever championship while making tons of money.” Every desire will be fulfilled in one swoop.
  
  It’s perfectly logical reasoning too, but no analyst or player will ever see us in that light until we start showing results.
ClipperBB

GM Olshey needs to sell LeBron on the fact that winning 1 championship with the Clippers is like winning 5 or 6 championships with any other franchise. That’s how horrible our franchise has been. To tell you the truth, if LeBron wins 1 championship with the Clippers, then he can easily be up there with the GOAT talk with Jordan. Our franchise has no history, no division banners, and no championship banners. But if LeBron gives us 1 championship banner, can you imagine what that would do to his legacy. Taking the “worst franchise in all of sports” to a championship. That would cement his legacy up there with MJ.
- Chris McD
  
  I’ve been saying this for awhile. I can’t even remember the blog post where I mentioned it. If Lebron joins the Clippers it makes history, and if he wins a championship with the Clippers then it makes him not just a Hall of Famer, but LEGENDARY. Taking one of the losingest teams to the finals? Who wouldn’t recognize that?
  
  But really, Lebron’s all about money. It’s an awesome pipe dream, but it ain’t likely to happen. I’m just happy enough if the Clips go to the playoffs next season since this season we had all the pieces in place but by some freak accident didn’t.
  
  I could see the Clippers being a major championship contender after DSterling kicks the bucket, though that is kind of mean. It really would be like taking the shackles off a beast.
JaySee

Basketball-wise the Clippers and Heat are the best choices for LeBron. With the Clips he’ll be THE man. With the Heat he will share the spotlight with Wade. He can stay with the Cavs for the money, but he won’t win. Any other team would be stupid unless it’s a sign and trade.
Josh

The team that signs LeBron can look forward to hanging a “First Round Champions” banner, and then watching him try to steal attention from the players trying to win a title. He’ll go great with Baron. He built the team he wanted in Cleveland, then quit on them. No doubt he’s a prodigious talent, but he doesn’t have the heart or head to make the most of it as a competitor.
http://www.twitter.com/HitFixGregory jgroove

LeBron ain’t coming here. The idea he’d go on Larry King to talk about his free agency is ludicrous. That’s taking self-absorbed to another level.
Alex Dizzle

Right now I am guessing that Dwayne Wade stays Lebron stays and the rest follow them or they go somewhere else. ( Joe Johnson, Amare, Bosh etc.) These guys have done to much for there teams to just bend over and call it quits . A piece or two in Miami they have a shot. Lebron and a sign a trade for bosh or Amare they have a shot. I am a Hornets fan and I follow the Clips cause my favorite player is BD. I am trying to be optimistic and hope Lebron signs with the Clips we get a legit coach (Mike Woodson, Mike Brown, Avery Johnson etc.) Who wouldnt want to see the two best players in the world be in the same city of L.A. ( Kobe & Lebron)? Just imagine this team Davis Gordon Lebron Griffin and Kaman! and we sign some solid bench players like resign Steve Blake, Butler, Gooden, and we already got Deandre damn this would be a sick ass team I would have to say. But I have to dream on because we have one of the most non player coach and business staff owner in the whole NBA in Donald Sterling who wants to play for a guy who hates spending money and hates on different race people. I don’t know I am just saying if he does sign with the Clips here comes our first banner ever! 2011 NBA FINALS CHAMPS….. THE LOS ANGELES…… CLIPPPPPPPPPERRSSS!
Beard The Curse

Kevin,

I’m incredibly sorry it took me this long to figure it out.

“King…
James…”

lmao.
Respect Griffin

You want to talk about a LEGACY. What more can a legend do then come to LA’s second team and turn them into champions. That sounds like a legacy to me…

Every other team that can offer him the max SUCKS including CLEVELAND. Bottom line.

This is the best team he could sign with, thats a fact, I’m not saying he will, but we all know thats a fact.

The East Coast media is pissing me off not mentioning us as a legit contender to land LBJ
keno

interesting news out of Cleveland with Danny Ferry departing. I have to think that doesn’t bode well for Cavs fans. Either Ferry knows that lebron is as good as gone (50/50), or lebron will look at the situation and think to himself that there isn’t an experienced mind to execute massive trades to lure one of the big free agents (they would need to have a 3 team deal or something because by my view the cavs just don’t have any assets to make a deal on their own). Don’t you think if Ferry thought LBJ was staying, he’d stay too?

The front office has their work cut out for them, no question. But it’s looking more and more like LBJ will depart.

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From the LeBron James-Larry King Transcript

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